Calcific retropharyngeal tendinitis.

Calcific retropharyngeal tendinitis is an inflammation of the longus colli muscle tendon which is located on the anterior surface of the vertebral column extending from the atlas to the third thoracic vertebra. The acute inflammatory condition is self-limiting with symptoms consisting of a gradually increasing neck pain often associated with throat pain and difficulty swallowing. The pain is aggravated by head and neck movement. Clinically the condition can be confused with retropharyngeal abscess, meningitis, infectious spondylitis, and post-traumatic muscle spasm. The radiographic features of this condition consist of pre-vertebral soft tissue swelling from C1 to C4 and amorphous calcific density in the longus colli tendon anterior to the body of C2 and inferior to the anterior arch of C1.